Fire and Reign
by ithinkyourewonderful
Summary: Summary: A companion to 'Watch the Stars' and 'Not While I'm Around' - The rescue party are on the shores of Neverland and they're not leaving without Henry, even if that means sacrificing themselves - or accepting themselves for who and what they are.


**Title:** Fire & Reign

**Disclaimer**: Not mine, never was, never will be...

**Rating**: PG-13 (Language)

**Summary**: A companion to 'Watch the Stars' and 'Not While I'm Around' - The rescue party are on the shores of Neverland and they're not leaving without Henry, even if that means sacrificing themselves - or accepting themselves for who and what they are.

**AN**: I've had this idea for a while, and when I realized S3 starts today, it was now or never. So, _please forgive errors if you can as a sign of over-eagerness._

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It felt like any other day - unendingly long and stretching out before them as flat as the ocean when Regina stood and marched to the bow of the ship and gripped the rails. She took in a deep lungful of sea air, and when she turned around to face them, her eyes sparkled as she announced "We're close. We're close to Henry."

"What?" The others asked, stopping to look at her, to look around, trying to spot land but seeing nothing.

"How can you tell?" Emma asked, looking at the woman standing before her.

"Can't you feel it? Can't you feel him?" Regina asked, her eyes wide, a smile spreading ear to ear.

"No Regina, I can't... There's no land... There's nothing." The young woman's heart broke to say those words, she could feel the helplessness that they'd tried to stave off creep into her words. Her parents, realizing the pain of the moment, of a parent unable to cope with losing their child, turned back to their work of coiling rope.

"There is. There's his magic." The older woman stated it like a fact - their son was near.

"His what? Regina, Henry doesn't have magic."

"Of course he does, Miss Swan. He's got your blood, your power - and Rumple's as well. I can feel him, I can see it as I can see and feel you."

"You can, you can 'feel me'?"

"Your magic - all magic is as unique as a fingerprint, a scent. It has a price, and that price is what it draws it's strength from. It's also what makes it unique. Yours, for instance, is blue and gold, it feels warm, like vanilla and warm milk. Rumple's is cold and green -"

"And yours?" Emma asked, trying to follow, and trying to keep Regina from returning to the delusion of Henry.

"Our Queen's is purple and black, and smells of ashes and smolder." Rumple called out from the stairwell to the cabin. "And your son's, his smells of sleep and stars and is the colour of twilight."

.

The boat stopped with a lurch and they all looked up to the steering deck. "What's going on Hook? Why're we stopping?"

"Because crew," Hook walked over to the railing of the upper level with a telescope in hand, "Not wise to go further without a plan. We're about to hit land. Look for yourself." He said, tossing down the telescope to Charming who quickly peered through it and passed it to his wife. Regina stepped past Emma, careful to leave just a hair's breath between them as moved beyond. "Where are you going?" Emma called out to the woman seemingly walking away from what they'd been looking for this entire time. "I need to get ready." She called over her shoulder, not bothering to look back as she headed towards the stairs below.

"For what, Regina? We don't even know what we're going to do when we get there." Snow asked.

"You may not Snow, but I do." She stopped moving, but didn't bother to turn to face them, only Rumple, her old teacher could see her face, her eyes swirling with purple and gold. "I'm getting my son back and I'm going to destroy anyone who stands in my way." With that announcement, she continued along her way below deck, followed by Rumple who shrugged at the confused Royal family.

.

**/ / / / / / / / **

.

Rumple had felt the magical strength return to him in waves that morning, he suspected Regina had as well, which is why he stayed close to her. So when she made her exit, he followed, if he wanted to get out of this alive, and he did, it would do to make sure he knew exactly what he was working with. He walked into her room after a quick rap of the door with his cane handle. He didn't wait to be announced, he didn't waste time explaining himself - he had raised her better than that. In a way, she was like a daughter. More than in a way. "The shepherd is dumb but brawny, Snow is a tactician when she can stop using her emotions."

"Neither are reliable." Regina points out. Her back is straight and her back is to her teacher.

"Nor is the Pirate."

"No."

"So that just leaves us." He states, placing his hands on his cane, realizing he no longer needs one, not here.

"And Miss Swan." Regina points out. "She's strong, stronger than we know."

"She's also uneducated, Regina."

"That's not my concern - that's yours."

"Is it now?" He snidely remarks.

"It is." With a quick flick of her wrist, a purple smoke washes over her body and she is transformed back into the Queen. Her hair is long once more and in a ponytail down her back, purple leather pants and black leather boots cling to her legs like a second skin. A black leather fitted vest is worn under a purple wool riding coat. Her lips are maroon and her eyes are black rimmed.

"I take it you have a plan, Your Highness?" He asks, the title his only nod to her transformation back into the Evil Queen.

"Have a seat old friend..." She invites.

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**/ / / / / / / / **

.

Above deck, the Royals and Hook plan the safest route to get to land, they go over their supplies, they go over what little they know. It's been a while since Hook's been there, and Neverland is shadowy and dark and able to shift to Pan's desires and whims. It's with a relief then, that they turn to hear the heels of Regina's books connect to the wood of the deck.

.

And it's with a sense of terror that they realize that Regina Mills is gone, that all that remains is the Evil Queen in all her glory. And as far as Emma is concerned, it really is glory. Every inch of the other woman demands power and respect. This is the first time she's really and truly seen Regina like this. She'd seen pictures, she'd heard stories, she'd even seen her come out with Cora's return - but wrapped in leather and wool, hair down her back, Emma couldn't help but feel a little more safe, and a lot more relieved that for once, they were on the same side. She saw her mother stand taller beside her, stand up for herself against the woman who had hunted her like an animal all those years ago. "Well, what are we waiting for?" The Queen asked, clapping her hands together, a delicious smile growing across her face.

"We're still planning, so far we -"

"We go in, we get Henry, we get him back safe and sound. Doesn't seem that difficult. Let's go. Chop, chop!"

"It's not that easy," Charming began to explain, "How do we find Pan and Henry, how do we get him, what about Tamara?"

"That's where you're wrong, Shepherd. It is that easy. We sail in like victors, Pan will find us, he's waiting for us, he can taste us on the wind. As for the rest, I'll take care of it. You know what they say?" With a wink of her eye, the boat began to move and land was visible in the horizon,"If you want something done, you have to do it yourself." She turned and made her way back to the bow of the ship. "I suggest you all get some rest, like Rumple is doing. You'll need it."

.

"Don't you need your rest?" Emma asked. She'd been watching Regina for so long as she debated how to ask the other woman what was going on.

"No, Miss Swan. I'll have time enough for that later."

"I see." Emma tentatively approached her and held on to the railing. "We seem to be here a lot together lately."

"Small ship." Regina pointed out.

"Yeah. You um... You seem different. Happier? Not happier, but, you know..."

"No, I don't, Miss Swan."

"More, you know... Never mind." She couldn't make her words match her thoughts. Maybe because her thoughts didn't match her thoughts. "So what's with the wicked witch get-up?" She asked, cringing as the words came out.

"Battle armor, Miss Swan, comes in many guises. A suit and heels are useless here, they have no connotation of power as they signify nothing. Same with a sheriff's badge. The Mayor, Regina Mills, is powerless here as she was in Storybrooke. The Queen on the other hand, is legendary. My legend, my wrath, is known across the magical realms. I fully intend to use that to my benefit."

Emma nodded, understanding her meaning. There was a psychological reason we choose to wear what we wear, why we choose certain roles. Regina was choosing the role of the Evil Queen. Emma had no choice but the Savior. "For what it's worth," Emma finally said, Regina Mills wasn't powerless. Not in Storybrooke, and not ever."

"I have an empty house and the scars to say otherwise, Miss Swan." She closed her eyes and swallowed the emotions before continuing. "Besides, that Regina wasn't real." The shore grew closer as did their hands. "She was real to me." Emma whispered, linking their pinkies together. "You may not like what you see, Miss Swan, so I want you to..." Her voice died, she didn't know how to finish the though. What did she want? With a wave of her hand, she replaced Emma's clothes, dirty and ill-suited for the task at hand. "Battle armor?" Emma asked, smiling, as she looked down at the jeans and her favorite red leather jacket that suddenly appeared on her.

"Something like that. I always did like that jacket on you." Regina smiled as she reached out to zip it up, her hand pressing against Emma's breastbone.

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**/ / / / / / / / **

.

The two dinghies hit the soft sand of the shores and quickly the groups hopped out of them. With a quick wave of Regina's hand, the ocean swallows them whole. "How will we get them back?" Snow asked as they watch, shocked. "Don't worry about that Dearie." Rumple said, patting her on the hand as he walked past. "Well, what next?" Charming asked as they looked around the forests that grew along the shoreline. They could feel something sinister in the air, it smelled like lilies, that rotting meat, sweet smell. "Well, I was thinking we could lie on the beach, drink some pina coladas, Charming. What do you think is next?" Regina tossed over her shoulder as she started to carve a path towards her left. "Rumple, Hook, you're both with me. You rest can bring up the rear. Try not to get killed."

"Have I told you lately, it's good to have you back, Your Highness?" Hook smirked at her, looking her over.

"It's good to be back Pirate." She responded sweetly, "And if I catch you staring like that again, I won't hesitate to cut off your other hand." From a small pouch on her belt, she picked up and tossed something small and glittering. With a few whispered words it began to bounce, and then veered towards the left. Regina followed without question, the rest followed suit.

.

"You can feel it, can't you?" Rumple murmured to her as they picked their way through the trees.

"We're almost there."

"Are you ready, Dearie?"

"Is anyone ever?" She shot back.

"Your mother - she would be proud."

"Don't." She warned him, stopping short.

"She didn't hate you, Regina. She just... She didn't want you to be as weak as she saw herself becoming."

"It's not weak to change." She tried to argue quietly. She had tried so hard to change for Henry, to be better, to be different..

"No, but sometimes it takes more strength to accept who and what you are."

"And just what am I?"

"Someone who is strong." Rumple could see the others getting closer, but this needed to be said. "If I had a daughter, I assume she'd be just like you." He couldn't say what he meant to say - that he was proud of her too. She was about to do what he was unable to do, unwilling to do when he had to. She was stronger than him in this respect. She was stubborn, hard headed, conniving, manipulative - but then again, so was he. He saw how well life worked out for people who were like them.

"Why'd we stop?" Emma asked, as the rest of the group got within earshot.

"Because we're here." Rumple announced, turning to face them, giving Regina a moment to compose herself. "Just beyond these trees is their camp."

"What?!" The rest of them turned around, "So this is it? We just show up unannounced and?"

"Hardly unannounced Dear." Regina explained, there's been Lost Boys trailing us for the last 45 minutes. I'd be disappointed if there wasn't a welcome mat laid out for us." The others looked up at the treetops... Were those sounds they heard the leaves rustling in the wind, or because of Lost Boys? Did it matter.

"So what next, Regina?" Snow asked, "They're expecting us and we have no plan."

"But we do," Regina raised an eyebrow "We cross into the clearing, I get Henry, you all stay on the edge. You have three goals -protect Henry, protect Hook, protect Rumple. I don't care about anything else."

"I'm touched," Hook smirked, tipping his hook towards her.

"Hook will get you out and get you home, Rumple will protect you until the border of our worlds."

"You still haven't explained how you're going to get Henry back, what's your role, other than bossing us around?" Charming asked, glaring at her.

"Well, this may be hard for your goat-herder brain to conceptualize, Dear, but I don't have to explain myself. That said, I'm going up to the mouth of the cave, knock politely and ask for Henry back. After that, well..." Her eyes turned black and purple, "The don't call me Evil without cause."

"Wait a minute!" Emma tossed her hands up, gold sparks flying about, "You're just going in and what? Demanding Henry back? You're crazy."

"No dear, just Evil."

"Stop saying that! Stop it! Maybe you were, but you aren't anymore."

"Miss Swan, as sweet as your soppy, sentimental plea is, at some point, we all need to accept who and what we are. You, Dear," She stepped closer towards Emma, her eyes focused on her lips, "Are the Savior, as soon as you accept that, the better off we'll all be. Well..." She reached out a hand and tapped Emma on the breastbone that protected her heart with a finger. "Almost all of us."

"Regina," Emma whispered, closing the gap between their bodies if only to keep a semblance of privacy from the prying eyes of the rescue party. She could see, if she tried, a shred of Regina, of the formidable mayor, of the woman who paced the deck at night, who marched the streets as though she owned them and could strike fear into the hearts of mere mortals with her words. "Regina, you can't do this - whatever you're planning, it's not good. This isn't something you need to do alone."

"But don't you see, I'm not doing it alone." She can't help but toy with a piece of blond curl that hung over Emma's shoulder. "I'm back, I'm finally back to who I was meant to be, who I always was meant to be. Magic isn't the only thing with a price, Miss Swan, all action has a price. And this is mine. I've outrun it more times than I care to count, but at some point, I need to pay it. So no matter what happens, and I need you to listen to me, Miss Swan, no matter what happens, you will protect our son, and you will take him back and show him the stars that he knows."

"Regina, what about you? You'll show him too right?"

"Ladies, this is all very touching but -" Hook felt the voice die in his throat. Damned magic.

"I've asked very little of you, Miss Swan, but I am asking this. I need you to lie to me." Regina whispered as tucked the strand of Emma's hair behind her ear and cupped the younger woman's cheek with her hand. Maybe in another life, but then again, she had had another life, and it still wasn't enough. It seems she'd never be enough. And with that thought, and a sigh, Regina pressed her lips against Miss Swan's. Against Emma's. She only had one chance, one chance to let it out. She kissed the other woman firmly, hoping the kiss would convey everything that was left unsaid on those sleepless nights. She knew the others were watching, curious and confused. "I've never said this before," Regina whispered, her words ticking Emma's lips, "But I am sorry."

"For what?" Emma asked, her hands somehow wrapped around Regina's waist.

"For everything that's about to happen."

.

Regina's eyes glowed black and purple and with a jolt, everyone else was flung back 50 feet. The air crackled and the ground shook as Regina raised her head and her arms to the sky. "I had forgotten how good it feels to be me!" She shouted as she turned on her heel and ran past the trees and to the clearing before the mouth of the cave. "Come out, come out wherever you are, Pan. Playtime is over. You have something of mine and I want it back!" Her voice echoed off the trees, off the rocks and caves and the sky. It was everywhere, as if carried on the back of the wind.

.

The party gathered to their feet, with Snow and Charming asking what happened, but Emma simply stared at Rumple, who seemed to land uninjured on his feet. "What's she doing, Gold?"

"What she needs to, Girlie."

They crept up to the tree line, but found they couldn't get past it. "Ah, ah, ah. This is as far as you go for now." He chided, "So sit back, you've never seen Regina at work, have you?" He smiles at her as he sits on on a tree stump, "Well grab a seat - she was always my best pupil."

"Nooooo!" Emma shouted, as she tried to get past, but bounced off of nothingness, a wall of air and lightness that separated them from the witch in the clearing.

.

The air was still, nothing moving in the clearing, until a black shadow, a trail of smokey ash, drifted from the cave and settled before her in the form of Peter Pan.

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"Gold! You have to stop her! We have to help her!" Emma shouted, her fist pounding against air.

"I'm afraid not. A deal's a deal and this one has been made. I keep you and the idiots safe until Regina's done. Then we get Henry and go home."

"And her?"

"If she survives, she gets to play den mother to a tribe of savage monsters, and if she doesn't... Well..." He shrugs, "None of that's my concern."

"No, I refuse to believe that!" Emma growled, running towards the wall, towards Regina, until she's thrown back and collides with her parents. "Yes, by all means, exert your energy needlessly," Gold comments "That seems like a brilliant idea, doesn't it?"

"Why aren't any of you helping her?! Why are you all just sitting there, watching?"

"What are we supposed to do? We're being held here." Snow began, reaching out a hand to smooth her daughter's hair. "Whatever is going on, Regina and Rumple have planned -"

"And you're letting them get away with it?"

"No," Charming answered, "But we need to trust that whatever it is, it involves saving Henry, and the harder we fight, the less energy we'll have when we need it."

"I can't - I can't believe you all!" She shouts at them before she marches back to the wall.

.

"You have a choice, Pan." Regina began, "You can return the boy to his mother and spare yourself and your band of miscreant children my wrath or..." She raises a hand casually, revealing a glowing fireball and hurls it to her right into the forest where a symphony of screams is heard. The sound of young children. She smiles as the smell of charred flesh mixes with the sea water. Her transformation is complete.

.

Emma sees it now, she is indeed, the Evil Queen from Henry's books. Regina stands before them all in her might and glory. And she can't help but be jealous of her freedom. Her ability to act without being bound by the rules. She is doing what Emma has only dreamt of since Henry was taken, since Regina was held captive.

.

"Besides, he's a boy, a mere child. No power, no magic, nothing. Useless, save for sentiment's sake." She concluded as she saw Tamara edging from the darkness of the cave towards them, Henry bound before her. Her heart leapt at the sight of her son, her whole life, but she channeled it towards the task at hand, which was securing his safety.

"This is a lot of effort for a sentiment, a trinket." Pan teased, "Sentiment, is that why you're here? I'm sure you can find another pet. Take one of mine."

"But mine's already housebroken." Regina sneers, ignoring the bile rising at the thought of her son being called a pet.

"Are you sure, your highness, that you have the right boy? Because that one there is full of power and innocence. The kind that only comes from the product of true love."

"What do you know of true love, Pan? All alone here on this distant island. That's not the child of true love, that''s the child of some misguided fumblings in the back of a car. If power's what you want, Pan, why choose a river when the ocean is available." She threw her arms back and offered herself.

"Why don't I trust you?"

"Because I don't trust me," Regina laughed,"But let the boy go and I'm yours." She grits her teeth as she gets down on one knee.

"She can't," Emma mutters, "She won't."

"Well, if that's the case..." Pan turns and flies towards Tamara and Henry, "Your services are no longer required, either of you." He shoves Henry forward and snaps his fingers, with which Tamara crumples to the ground. "Mom!" Henry shouts, running past Regina, past the wall, and straight into Emma's arms.

.

Whatever Emma thought was going to happen, it wasn't this. There was no epic battle, no sword fights or cannons. Regina simply knelt there, her back straight and her head high as she took a deep breath and allowed Pan to enter her in a cloud of black, tarry smoke. Emma watches this in horror as she holds Henry tight, runs her hands over every square inch of his head and hair and face and shoulders, but never taking her eyes off the other woman.

The forest is quiet now, the Lost Boys scatter from the tree tops and leave behind the rescue party, waiting for a sign, for anything. "We should leave." Hook finally speaks. "We should leave before he comes back."

"If he comes back," Rumple comments. "That wasn't what she had in mind."

"Henry, go to Snow." Emma murmurs, dropping a kiss on his head and making her way over to the kneeling body of Regina.

.

Emma can see her skin turn sallow and pale. It's cold to her touch as she lays Regina's body down, but her chest rises ever so slowly up and down. "Rumple, you have to help her." She demands, looking up at the man who's made his way over to her.

"I'm afraid this is one place where my powers are useless. I can only destroy. She can only rule. True love can save and create."

"You know, I keep hearing about true love, and all the things it can do, but it never seems to work, does it?"

"Oh really Dearie? Perhaps it wasn't you two to stop the unstoppable trigger? Perhaps it was another Queen and her Knight?" He tosses back towards her before looking up. "We should leave before the begins to set."

.

**/ / / / / / / / **

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They leave her body there. They say very little before they leave. Henry doesn't even look at her, and Emma doesn't let go of Henry's hand as they trek along to the ship.

.

Her heart hurts. As if it's beating twice instead of once. Her chest feels like it's running out of room. She finds her free hand pressing against her breastbone. She finds Gold looking at her. They're all looking at her.

.

It's not until they've set sail that she's alone. Gold finds her at the stern of the ship, watching the island. "You understand what she did, don't you? Why she did it?"

"No." She answers, then, "Yes."

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**/ / / / / / / / **

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Emma wakes up in Storybrooke.

.

Not the Storybrooke she knows, but one overrun with weeds and overgrowth. One where it looked like Neverland and Storybrooke had become one. She wanders around, not surprised to to find herself alone. She makes her way to the town square until her heart hurts again. She presses her hand against her chest as she makes her way towards Regina, still in her Evil Queen get up, sipping a cup of coffee on a street bench. "You should leave, Miss Swan. It isn't safe."

"It never is with you, is it, Regina?"

"And I suppose your life has been a shining example?" She teases as she shifts over to allow Emma to sit beside her. "You'll have to change that, you're a single mother now."

"What's going on?"

"What do you mean?"

"You and Gold, what's the plan?" Emma grabs the cup from Regina's hand and takes a sip. "You may wanna try a dash of cinnamon."

"My plan is over. The rest is up to you."

"How do we even get home? We don't have another bean."

"You have something better." Regina takes her cup back. "I have given you something, something very special." She smiles as she looks over. "When the time comes, you'll know what to do."

"Can I ask you a question, Regina?"

"Doesn't mean I'll answer."

"Do you believe in true love?"

"I'll let you know when I find out."

"And when will that be?"

"Sooner than you think, Miss Swan. Sooner than you think."

.

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**AN: ** Thoughts? Reviews? Feedback?


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